


synthesis

by terrifyingcandy



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology
Genre: how it really happened, reinterpretation of myth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 02:26:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8185655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terrifyingcandy/pseuds/terrifyingcandy
Summary: they say he saw her, dancing through the fields, fresh life blooming in her wake, and wanted that life for himself





	

they say he took her from her home, from the things she loved and a mother who loved her  
they say he saw her, walking through the fields, fresh life blooming in her wake, and wanted that life for himself  
they say she struggled, flinging roots into the land, ripped out and shrivelled by Death's touch  
they say when she saw his kingdom, she would not take it, or anything it offered, waiting for her mother and her land to take her back

what is known is this, when she could not be found, when whispers of a goddess of life in the land of the dead reached her mother's ears, she went to the god of the skies and begged him to bring her daughter back  
when he would not, she brought an endless winter to the world, so humanity would suffer as she did

the seas froze over, the crops could not take root, frost coated the leaves of the trees and fires could only keep the cold at bay for so long  
the blood in the people's veins slowed to a crawl and even that began to dwindle

their plight and her grief moved the sky god to order Spring's return from Death  
then, Spring took the underworld's gift and its hospitality, and could never go back   
half a year she spends in the dark, and half with her mother,   
and mankind can feel the warmth and the change of the seasons as their proof of a mother's love and a god's obsession

but was the underworld's hospitality such that she could not resist?  
why did she demur until her release was ordered, then ensure that she could never be truly freed?

when he saw her dancing through the fields, she saw him too, shadows clinging to him, his eyes clinging to her  
she left flowers for him in the secret places hidden by trees and fast-growing shrubs  
closer and closer to his realm she wandered in her dance, and found jewels he had left behind, raised from the earth in his presence as hers brought life

she weaved a crown of flowers and rubies and silver, waiting for him 

when he took her, she laughed and ran ahead into the darkness, lit up with her joy  
until she reached his palace and found it already lit with fires burning day and night, the flames licking off the precious metals so abundant in the earth  
and when she reached his garden, she knew she would stay here, where the eternal night seemed ever so bright

silver and gold took the form of trees and shrubs, with berries of garnet and sapphire, and vines with a copper sheen dripped with emerald grapes

he had seen the life above and wanted it for his own, and made its image down in his kingdom, so it would be close by him even when she was not  
he knew it could not compare to the grass that could grow or the flower that bloomed   
but she saw his creation and loved it, and she laughed and danced through it as she did in the fields above that used to be her home

where she went, real grass grew, vines came up to tangle with the coppery lengths,  
and leaves, green and fresh and alive, came out from metal branches  
the god of death looked upon what she had made with him  
and he laughed and danced with her

time passed, and they did not change, she wore her crown of flowers and rubies and silver, and sat the throne beside him  
when he made the laws of the dead, she ruled with him, and when he could not, she ruled for him

then the sky god came to take her away and through the dead she learnt of the winter that had come from her mother's sorrow  
so she went to their garden, and from a golden tree she had coaxed to fruit, she took a pomegranate  
from that pomegranate she took six seeds

the sky god watched as she ate the seeds, their juice wetting her lips as red as the rubies on the crown she wore, and listened as she declared her intentions 

and so mankind feels the warmth and the change of the seasons as their proof of a god's love and a mother's obsession


End file.
